The oral history consists of four digital files: 2011.174.6.1a, 2011.174.6.1b, 2011.174.6.1c, and 2011.174.6.1d.

C. T. Vivian recalls growing up in Macomb, Illinois, working in Peoria, Illinois, and his call to the ministry. He discusses attending the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, where he met other civil rights activists and participated in demonstrations. He remembers planning the Freedom Rides, his imprisonment at Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm), the Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Alabama, and working for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).